I wish you both, gentlemen, to understand that
I am not promising more to the daughters of your old friend than I
can perform. When I first came to this house, I entered it under such
independent circumstances as are not common in the lives of governesses.
In my younger days, I was associated in teaching with my elder sister:
we established a school in London, which grew to be a large and
prosperous one. I only left it, and became a private governess, because
the heavy responsibility of the school was more than my strength
could bear. I left my share in the profits untouched, and I possess a
pecuniary interest in our establishment to this day. That is my story,
in few words. When we leave this house, I propose that we shall go back
to the school in London, which is still prosperously directed by my
elder sister. We can live there as quietly as we please, until time
has helped us to bear our affliction better than we can bear it now. If
Norah's and Magdalen's altered prospects oblige them to earn their own
independence, I can help them to earn it, as a gentleman's daughters
should. The best families in this land are glad to ask my sister's
advice where the interests of their children's home-training are
concerned; and I answer, beforehand, for her hearty desire to serve Mr.
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